


"Only way to save you."

by CloudNucleus



Category: Pikmin (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Transformation, i guess, no editing we die like men, olimin, pikmin 1 bad ending, uhhh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-11
Updated: 2020-11-11
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:26:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27504523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CloudNucleus/pseuds/CloudNucleus
Summary: I’m falling. No, no! This isn’t how it was supposed to go! But I’m not surprised; I didn’t finish repairing the ship. Of course it can’t fly…The ground rushes toward me in slow motion. I wish it was over now.And then, it is. I barely register my helmet shattering into pieces. I don’t feel the crash; it happens too quickly.... I don't know what's going on.-My take on the immediate aftermath of the bad ending of the first Pikmin game... I wrote a fic like this several years ago, but it's been lost to time. I want more Pikmin content! So uhhh I wrote this in like an hour or so while I should've been sleeping, as I tend to do.
Kudos: 21





	"Only way to save you."

I’m falling. No, no! This isn’t how it was supposed to go! But I’m not surprised; I didn’t finish repairing the ship. Of course it can’t fly…

The ground rushes toward me in slow motion. I wish it was over now.

And then, it is. I barely register my helmet shattering into pieces. I don’t feel the crash; it happens too quickly.

…

Everything is dark. I don’t know what’s going on. Why… am I still here? Am I not dead? I think I can feel a slight breeze above me. I don’t think I’m breathing in the same way I used to, but I don’t feel out of breath either. I suddenly realize I can feel my body, though I’m buried in something and can’t move much. Still, I try my best. I think I can feel something… flick on top of my head, but I’m not sure what it is. Come to think of it, while I’m aching all over, the top of my head really hurts…

As I wiggle my limbs around a bit, I think I can hear the pitter-patter of little feet stepping closer to me, slowly, as if they’re nervous about what they might see. I can feel little hands grab at the thing on top of my head and tug, which is very unpleasant, but I can’t do much to stop it…

And then, daylight! Bright daylight! I’m surrounded by Pikmin, and I’ve just been pulled out of the ground… how did I get in there? There’s a small hole where I once was, and I’m sitting on the dirt beside it. I quickly stand up and look around, realizing that I’m right underneath the Red Onion. The Pikmin gather around me and wrap their arms around me, hugging me tightly. “Whoa! You guys sure are affectionate today!” I say to them.

“Yay! Olimar is safe!” they cheer.

I gasp. “Uh… since when could you talk?”

A Red Pikmin standing in front of me tilts their head in confusion. “Since always?”

“Then… why couldn’t I understand you before?” I ask, holding my aching head in my hands. It feels so weird to be without a helmet, but for some reason I’m not dying of oxygen poisoning... I reach up a hand to rub the most painful spot, on top of my head - 

but I stop when I find something unexpected there. There’s… a thing on my head, and it feels strangely similar in texture to the stems of the Pikmin. I feel my eyes widen as I pull on it, bringing it in front of my face.

“Olimar is Pikmin now,” the Red Pikmin says quietly. Sure enough, the thing on my head is a black stem, topped with a leaf. “Only way to save you.”

I’m speechless. I fall back to a sitting position, still holding the stem tightly in my hand until I realize it hurts. Loosening my grip, I reach up my other hand to gently stroke the leaf. It almost tickles; it’s quite sensitive. There’s no question - it’s definitely part of me.

“I’m- I’m actually a Pikmin,” I say quietly to myself. “I can’t believe it.”

A Yellow Pikmin pats me on the shoulder. “...It’s okay,” they say.

“I can’t go home anymore, can I?” I’m barely whispering at this point.

The Red Pikmin points up at the Onion. “Home?”

“That’s… not my home. My home is back on Hocotate.”

The Red Pikmin looks down, an unreadable expression on their face. A nearby Blue Pikmin pats them on the shoulder and steps forward. “Olimar, want nectar? Make you feel better?”

“I don’t know,” I mumble. I don’t think nectar would make me feel better. I don’t think I can accept this… transformation yet. I let go of my stem and feel it return to its usual position, standing up above my head with the leaf drooping slightly. I find myself flicking it around a bit, feeling how it moves. It… feels quite nice, though I’m not sure I want to admit it.

“...I get nectar anyway. Drink when you want,” the Blue Pikmin says, running off. A few other Pikmin join them - safety in numbers, of course, the world is dangerous.

Quite dangerous indeed, seeing as it’s killed me and resurrected me as one of its creatures.

“Any way I can help?” asks the Red Pikmin, who is now sitting down next to me.

I shake my head, but gently wrap my arm around them. “How… did you do this to me? How does that work?” I ask.

“Similar to making normal Pikmin, but special method for things shaped like us, and same size.”

“Would it do that for any creature of roughly the same shape and size of a Pikmin?” I ask. Yes, talk of biology should make me feel a little bit better, right?

“It could, but depends on what leader chooses.”

“That’s interesting.”

“I’m back!” I hear the Blue Pikmin call, running as fast as they can as they carry a nectar egg with the help of a Yellow Pikmin.

I look up. “Thank you,” I say, though I’m still not sure I want to drink the nectar. But my mouth is watering for some reason…

The little squad of Pikmin starts to break apart the egg, and I watch as the golden-yellow liquid seeps out of the forming cracks. I hate that it looks delicious. The Blue Pikmin cups their hands and picks up a drop of it, offering it to me.

I can’t deny it anymore, can I? I let them drop the nectar into my hands and I take a tentative sip. Sure enough, it’s delicious, but it brings along a strange feeling in my stem, a sort of tingling. I drink the rest of the nectar in my hands and reach up to grab my stem again, pulling it down to look at it. There’s a bud at the end of it now, in a shade of red not unlike on my spacesuit.

I don’t need the spacesuit anymore, do I…?

I let go of my stem and stand up to drink a bit more nectar. It really is delectable. It’s sweet, but not too sweet… the tingling feeling at the end of my stem reappears and I pull on it to watch the bud blossom into a flower.

There’s a flower on my head… I have to admit it feels nice. I feel a bit more energized. Less like I just fell out of a spaceship.

But what am I going to do now?

“Yummy?” the Red Pikmin asks.

“Yeah,” I say. “I can understand why you like it so much.”

“Having flower feels nice!” The Pikmin flicks their own flower-topped stem. “And nectar yummy.”

I nod, feeling my stem move with my head. I’m not sure if I’ll ever get used to that.

Later that evening, I realize that since my ship has been destroyed, I can’t use it to get off the planet’s surface to avoid predators. Will I have to sleep in the Onion? I  _ am _ curious about what it looks like on the inside, but I’m not sure I’m ready for that…

“Don’t worry,” the Red Pikmin says. “Is cozy and safe.”

I take a deep breath. I’ll have to do this eventually, won’t I?

“All right.” I start climbing up one of the Onion’s legs, and slowly poke my head through the opening that leads inside - and I catch my stem on the edge so I have to strain it a bit to make sure it gets in. Ouch.

But the inside of the Onion is warm, and it certainly does feel nice after standing in the chilly night air. It’s a single round, red room, with what appear to be Pikmin-sized holes lining the walls. There are a few Pikmin sleeping in them. On closer inspection I can see that they’re a bit squishy, and it actually looks quite comfortable.

I inhale deeply again as I unzip my spacesuit and pull it off, stretching my limbs and wiggling my fingers now that they’re free of the thick gloves. I notice that my fingers and toes have become slightly thinner and more pointed at the tips, and their texture feels almost like my stem. Perhaps they’ve gained some root-like traits like the Pikmin.  _ Huh. _

I climb into a particularly large sleeping-hole near the bottom row of the Onion, after folding my spacesuit into a neat square and setting it right outside the hole.

When I wake up the next morning, I realize how quickly I fell asleep. Today is a new day… I’ll have to go and see what it brings.


End file.
